The Schmitt Balancing Solutions (SBS) division of Schmitt Industries (NASDAQ: SMIT) of Portland, Ore., provides acoustic emission technology that solves the problem of how to "view" the profile of the grinding wheel through the stream of cooling oil. The SBS Balance System uses an acoustic sensor to monitor the high-frequency vibration of the dressing wheel as it contacts the grinding wheel and "listens" for the sound of the two making contact. ExactDress software from SBS controls the dressing process by measuring the live acoustic emission signature of the dressing operation and comparing it with the profile of a known successful wheel dress. When there is a match, the system knows that the wheel is dressed correctly.

To set up the Exact Dress controls, a learn cycle records a successful dressing cycle within crash and gap sensitivity parameters for a particular wheel. An acoustic signature is recorded. Once the Exact Dress reference data set is finished and stored as a known good dress, the data can be used to evaluate subsequent dresses of the same process. The process avoids over-dressing a grinding wheel to ensure quality and prolongs grinding wheel life. One customer found that only one dressing was needed 80% of the time; most high-precision applications used two dressing cycles to be sure.